Bacteria that cause meningitis on the rise, CDC warns

Colonies of Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, which cause meningococcal disease. The disease is a rare but severe illness. Photograph: Brodsky/AP

An invasive meningococcal disease – which can be deadly to infected people – is on the rise, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned.

In an alert issued on Thursday, the CDC warned that there were 422 cases of the disease reported in the US last year, the highest annual number of cases reported since 2014.